Flexible wall section, in particular for heating or refrigerating chambers

ABSTRACT

A flexible wall section for heating or refrigerating rooms or chambers having at least one layer of flexible material with good heat insulating capacity, comprising coupling means for fast and releasable interconnection with adjacent wall portions; pulling members for folding and removing said wall section when said coupling means have been released; and folding indications perpendicular to the direction of removal so as to facilitate folding of the section during the removing operation.

United States Patent 1191 Sund 1 1451 Dec. 24, 1974 1 FLEXIBLE WALL SECTION, IN 2,060,582 11/1936 Leffert 160/120 PARTICULAR FOR HEATING R 2,391,871 1/1946 Benson 1. 160/354 X 3,231,006 l/1966 Eisher et al. 160/41 REFRIGERATING CHAMBERS 3,256,931 6/1966 Oijerholm 160/84 R X [75] Inventor: Erik Ivar Sund, Stockholm, Sweden 3,371,700 1968 Romano 3,487,875 1 l970 Sh k l. 4 73] Assignee: Igloo-Flex AB, Stockholm, Sweden I u at a 60/8 R [22] Filed: Jan. 2, 1973 Primary Examiner-W. C. Reynolds Assistant Examiner-Philip C. Kannan [21] Appl' 320351 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fred C; Philpitt [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Dec, 30, 1971 Sweden 16947/71 A flexible wall section for heating or refrigerating rooms or chambers having at least one layer of flexible [52] US. Cl 160/84 R, 160/D1G. 13, 160/238, material with good heat insulating capacity, compris- 160/344 ing coupling means for fast and releasable intercon- [51] Int. Cl A47h 5/032 nection with adjacent wall portions; pulling members [58] Field of Search 160/84, 354, 243, 238, for folding and removing said wall section when said 160/120, 344, 348, 241, 41; 135/8 coupling means have been released; and folding indications perpendicular to the direction of removal so as [56] References Cited to facilitate folding of the section during the removing UNITED STATES PATENTS Operationl,925,8l5 9/1933 Nicolson l60/DlG. l3

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FIG. 5.

FLEXIBLE WALL SECTION, IN PARTICULAR FOR HEATING OR REFRIGERATING CHAMBERS The present invention relates to a flexible wall section, which is adapted for use in particular in the construction of heating or refrigerating chambers of the type which is utilized, e.g., for the transport or temporary storage of temperature sensitive goods.

Heating or refrigerating chambers are often used in warehouses for temporary storage of such products which must be maintained at a determined temperature so as not to be damaged, e.g., fruit and vegetables, or on lorries or other vehicles in order to allow the transport of such products.

In the use of such heating or refrigerating chambers it is highly desirable that the insertion of goods in the chamber or the removal of goods from the chamber, respectively, can be performed rapidly and with the least possible change of temperature in the chamber. A heat-insulated chamber with flexible walls for the above-mentioned purpose has been described previously in the Swedish Pat. No. 203,638 but in this prior chamber all walls are lifted simultaneously at the insertion or removal, respectively, of goods. This is, of course, an advantage when loading or unloading is to be performed from several directions simultaneously but evidently the surrounding temperature of the products stored in the chamber will be influenced by such operations.

The main object of the present invention is to avoid this disadvantage and to provide a wall section, which is particularly adapted for a heating or refrigerating chamber with flexible walls, and which allows a rapid and unimpeded access to the chamber without the temperature in the chamber being influenced to any greater extent. This object is attained by providing the wall section with the features as claimed in claim 1.

Consequently, by means of the present invention it will be possible to provide an aperture in a wall of a heating or refrigerating chamber in a rapid and simple manner, said aperture being sufficiently large to allow the use of transport vehicles, if such vehicles should be required at the loading and unloading, and to close the aperture rapidly, after the goods have been loaded or unloaded, so that the circulation of heat through the aperture will be reduced to a minimum at the same time as the wall portion normally covering the aperture is maintained removed in a simple manner, and so that it will not impede inward and outward transport of goods.

According to a further development of the inventive conception the wall section is formed with four sides and provided with a fast coupling member at all the sides, which are adapted to be connected with the adjacent parts or wall sections of the heating or refrigerating chamber. Hereby it will be possible to replace the wall section rapidly by a new one, which is a great advantage, should a wall section be damaged in such a manner that it can no longer fulfil its purpose. This may easily occur, e.g., in the utilization of heating or refrigerating chambers of the type indicated above on lorries in traffic, wherein a crack may easily be caused due to the walls of the chamber scratching against, e.g., another vehicle, a traffic indicator or a wood branch. In such use the heating or refrigerating chamber is conveniently composed of a plurality of sections, located adjacent to each other and connected with each other by .tion of such heating or refrigerating chambers.

The invention will now be described more closely with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a plane view of a wall section according to one embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 a crosssection at a larger scale through a portion of the wall section illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 a cross-section of a lorry with a refrigerating chamber built on the lorry platform, comprising a wall section according to the invention. FIG. 4 the same cross-section as in FIG. 3 but with the wall section in a lifted position, and FIG. 5 the same cross-section as in FIG. 4 but with a modified form of the wall section.

The wall section illustrated in FIG. 1, which is seen from the interior of the heating or refrigerating chamber, comprises a rectangular, whole panel 10 of a flexible, heat insulation material with a certain thickness. This heat insulation material, as illustrated in FIG. 2 is covered at the external side of the wallsection by a protective cloth 11a of a strong weather-proof material and at the internal side of the wall section is covered by a similar cloth 11b on which, however, the require ments in respect of strength and weather-proofness need not be as strict. The wall section is adapted to be connected at three side edges 12, 13, 14 thereof to adjacent wall sections or wall portions and for this purpose it is provided with fast coupling members 15, 16, 17 of a zipper type at said side edges. At the left hand edge 12 the fast coupling member 15 is spaced a few centimetres from the edge so that a protruding strip 12a of the wall section is formed, which overlaps the joint between two adjacent sections. At the right hand edge 14 the wall section is provided with a protruding strip of protective cloth only, the width of which correspondsto the width of the protruding strip 12a at the left hand edge of the wall section and at the free edge of which the fast coupling member 17 is secured. By means of this overlapping a minimum leakage is obtained through the joints between the various wall sections or wall portions. At the top edge 13 of the wall section the fast coupling member 16 is illustrated as secured to the external edge of the section. There, overlapping is obtained by means of a protruding strip provided on the adjacent wall or roof part, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The lowermost side edge 18 of the wall section as shown on the drawing is not provided with any fast coupling member but instead with a skirt 19', which is adapted to abut against a lorry platform or a floor. At this lowermost edge 18 a weight loading is also provided, which is indicated by means of dash-dot line 18a and serves to maintain the wall section stretched when it is suspended at the upper edge 13.

By interconnecting a plurality of such sections after each other, side walls are obtained, which are particularly suitable for refrigerating chambers on lorries, since a certain portion of the load transported will be directly accessible by opening the adjacent wall section. The roof can then be secured to the walls and consists of the same material as the latter.

The wall section illustrated is provided with a plurality of rivets arranged in horizontal rows, which assist in maintaining the various elements of the wall sections together, i.e., the heat insulation material and the internal and external cloths, and to give consistency to a wall section. As illustrated more clearly in FIG. 2 certain of the rivets 20 are provided with eyelets 21, which are located on the rivet head, which is directed towards the interior of the chamber, and through which lift wires 22 are passed for lifting the wall section, said rivet rows also serving as folding directions for the section, as will be described more closely later. The lift wires are secured to a rotatable rolling bar 22a, which is located at the top.

FIG. 3 illustrates the wall section shown in FIG. 1 mounted so as to form a refrigerating chamber on a lorry. The lorry platform 23 with an underlying insulation 23a is provided with a side flap 24, which in an upwardly folded position abuts the lower edge 18 of the wall section. The slot between the side flap 24 of the lorry and the lower edge 18 of the wall section is sealed by means of the protective cloth 11a which is applied externally of the heat insulation panel 10 and continues somewhat below the panel and consequently overlaps the side flap of the lorry platform. The refrigerating chamber on the lorry platform 23 is formed by a roof arranged over the lorry platform and side walls arranged thereat and consisting of a plurality of interconnected wall sections of the type described. Both the roof and the side walls are supported by a frame structure 26, which is indicated in the top left hand comer of the drawing.

The lift wires 22 are arranged so as to allow a rapid lifting of the wall section desired, after the. two side edges 12, 14 of the wall section have been released from the adjacent wall portions. The lift wires are secured to the lower edge 18 of the wall section and extend through the eyelets 21 up to and around the roller bar 22a, which is arranged adjacent the upper edge 13 of the wall section and immediately below the roof. This roller bar'is arranged to be rotated forthe lifting each fold, so that the space required in the lifted state of the wall section will be a minimum.

FIG. 1 shows that the distance a between the lower edge 18 of the wall section and the first folding direction is equal to the distance between said folding direction and the succeeding folding direction but thereafter the distance b to the next folding direction is greater than the distance a between the two first mentioned folding directions and this distance is then maintained to the next folding direction but that the distance c thereafter is greater and that the distance is thus increased after each pair of foldforming wall section portions so that consequently a b c. This brings about the advantage that the lower folds will be shorter than the upper folds, whereby the upper folds can be made relatively large without the risk of the folds due to their projecting length being bent downwards and thereby impeding the passage through the aperture. It is, of course, desirable to have as few folds as possible, provided that the aperture obtained is not reduced by depending folds. Since the lower folds are shorter the risk of deflection of said folds is a minimum and the lowermost fold can thus form a support for the succeeding upwards located fold, which in turn supports the succeeding upwards located fold in such a manner that deflection is eliminated.

The lifting of the wall section can, of course, be performed by means of lift wires, which are actuated manually by the operator or automatically via a motor. However, it is particularly convenient to connect 'the lift wires to a member providing the lift wireswith a of the wall section. Alternatively the lift wires may extend in parallel along the roof and be connected to rubber bands or other similar resilient members, which are capable of preloading the lift wires so that the wall section can be drawn upwards automatically or with very little force from an operator, as 'soon as the vertical side edges and the lower side edge have been released. During the lifting of the wall section the section is folded so that a plurality stacked folds are formed, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the weight load at the lower edge of the wall section in the form of a tube 18a.

As mentioned above in connection with FIG. I, the

wall section is provided with a plurality of rivets 20 ex-' tending through the insulation layer. Said rows of rivets form folding directions on the wall section perpendicularly to the lifting direction, which substantially facilitate the lifting of the wall section and reduces the space required for the various folds. If no folding directions are present the folds will be relatively cumbersome, which in turn will cause that the lower edge of the wall section cannot be lifted to such a high extent, whereby the aperture obtained will be smaller. The eyelets guiding the lift wires are only located at every second folding direction, which provides the advantage that a folding direction will also be present at the external tip of certain preload. It is particularly convenient to utilize rubber bands or springs, which are suitably arranged in parallel with the roof and immediately there below but also the roller bar may be provided with a spring loading. By means of a suitable adjustment of the tension in the lift wires the lifting of the wall section can be highly.

facilitated and possibly made completely automatic. Thus, in the last-mentioned'case the wall section will be lifted immediately into its lifted position as soon as the fast coupling members l5, 17 have been released and any securing members at the lower edge 18 of the wall section have been unfastened. However, it is also possible to balance the preload in such a manner that the operator himself must push up the wall section which, however, in such a case is very easy, since the wall section is maintained in a lifted position due to the existing tension in the lift wires, independent of whether the lifting'of the wall section has been performed to the topmost position or only to an intermediate position. Possibly suitable damping members in the form of cylinders and pistons can be connected between the lift wires and the members causing the preload so that a control .of the lifting velocity of the wall section is enabled.

According to the modification illustrated in FIG. 5 of the embodiment described the wall section is designed so that it is rolled during lifting instead of folded. In the latter case the external lift wires are replaced by spring wires 27 arranged in the wall section, which have been provided with a certain .preload so that the rolling up is performed automatically upon the releasing of the side edges of the wall section. The spring wires in the wall section can then be preloaded in such a manner that during the rolling up they will produce either one largeturn or a plurality of small turns. Even here the spring tension can be adjusted so that the rolling up can be performed automatically or by assistance of the operator, the wall section being maintained in a rolled up position, independent of whether this position is the uppermost position or an intermediate position. It is evident that in this embodiment no folding directions are required.

The wall section may, of course, have an optional shape and size but a square shape with a side of 3 meters length is particularly suitable.

The refrigerating chamber formed is connected to a refrigerating system, which causes refrigerated air to be blown into the refrigerating chamber, whereby a desired temperature can be obtained. If instead the chamber is to operate as a heating chamber, heated air must be blown into the chamber instead.

It is evident that a large number of various embodiments are possible within the scope of the inventive conception. The wall section proper may thus be formed in many different ways and with one or more layers of heat insulation material and one or more covering layers or possibly completely without covering layer, if the insulation layer per se is sufficiently stable. in addition, the insulation layer may be applied in the form of only one large member or in the form of strips or bands arranged adjacent to each other. If strips or bands are used, such strips and bands are conveniently inserted into pockets between the internal and external surfaces of the wall section, a folding direction being obtained between each such strip or band. instead of using rivets for supporting the wall section and providing the folding directions required, seams may be utilized. Spring fasteners or laces may also be used as fast coupling members. In addition, it is possible to arrange the eyelets guiding the lift wires in various manners, e.g., one eyelet in each folding direction row, but in such case a fold is obtained which is relatively cumber-. some at its external tip, which may complicate the lifting of the wall section. it is, of course, not necessary to provide the folds with different lengths but all folds can also be of equal length. However, in such a case a larger number of folding directions will be required, since the folds must then be made shorter. While the embodi-- ment described relates to heat insulating walls, it is evident that there are many other ranges of utilization, e.g. sound insulating walls.

What I claim is:

l. A flexible wall section for heating or refrigerating chambers having at least one layer of flexible material with good heat insulating capacity, said wall section comprising:

a. coupling means along at least three side edges for fast and releasable interconnection of the section with adjacent wall portions;

b. biased pulling members for folding and removing said wall section when said side edges have been released, said pulling members maintaining said wall section in the removed position,

c. folding indications perpendicular to the direction of removal so as to facilitate folding of said section during the removing operation, and

d. eyelets for each pulling member provided at every second folding indication, said pulling members being attached to the edge parallel with the folding indications and passing through said eyelets,

the distance between the folding indications increasing progressively from the lower edge of the section towards the upper edge of the section after each fold so that the upper folds become larger than the lower folds.

2. A flexible wall section for heating or refrigerating chambers having at least one layer of flexible material with good heat insulating capacity, said wall section comprising:

a. coupling means along at least three side edges for fast and releasable interconnection of the section with adjacent wall portions,

b. biased pulling members connected to the lowest edge of said wall section for lifting and folding said wall section when said side edges have been released, said pulling members maintaining said wall section in the removed position,

0. folding indications perpendicular to the direction of lifting so as to facilitate folding of said section during the lifting operation, and

d. eyelets for each pulling member provided at every second folding indication, said pulling members passing through said eyelets, the distance between the folding indications increasing progressively from the lower edge of the section towards the upper edge of the section after each fold so that the upper folds become larger than the lower folds. 

1. A flexible wall section for heating or refrigerating chambers having at least one layer of flexible material with good heat insulating capacity, said wall section comprising: a. coupling means along at least three side edges for fast and releasable interconnection of the section with adjacent wall portions; b. biased pulling members for folding and removing said wall section when said side edges have been released, said pulling members maintaining said wall section in the removed position, c. folding indications perpendicular to the direction of removal so as to facilitate folding of said section during the removing operation, and d. eyelets for each pulling member provided at every second folding indication, said pulling members being attached to the edge parallel with the folding indications and passing through said eyelets, the distance between the folding indications increasing progressively from the lower edge of the section towards the upper edge of the section after each fold so that the upper folds become larger than the lower folds.
 2. A flexible wall section for heating or refrigerating chambers having at least one layer of flexible material with good heat insulating capacity, said wall section comprising: a. coupling means along at least three side edges for fast and releasable interconnection of the section with adjacent wall portions, b. biased pulling members connected to the lowest edge of said wall section for lifting and folding said wall section when said side edges have been released, said pulling members maintaining said wall section in the removed position, c. folding indications perpendicular to the direction of lifting so as to facilitate folding of said section during the lifting operation, and d. eyelets for each pulling member provided at every second folding indication, said pulling members passing through said eyelets, the distance between the folding indications increasing progressively from the lower edge of the section towards the upper edge of the section after each fold so that the upper folds become larger than the lower folds. 